Follow Me On The Web!

We all may be in for a surprise when Google introduces their next algorithm change on Tuesday August 21st. This change is going to affect over 50% of all websites and actually eliminate many of them from the search results! Will your website be one of them?

Turns out that Google wants take the next step in providing good usable content to it’s users. And this change may impact you even if you aren’t an internet retailer – the majority of websites that are online.

Most users of Google use it for searching the internet – I know on my iPhone there is even a special button just to do Google searches. And we know from the Penguin and Panda experiences that their changes can be dramatic to the search results. (I had a friend who lost 40% of his web traffic overnight with one of those Google updates.)

Google has seen then trend of searches moving to mobile devices – Smartphones and tablets. In fact now around 50% of all internet searches are done on a mobile device. And this trend continues to grow.

It makes sense really – people like my wife don’t even use a computer personally – she uses her Smartphone and iPad for everything.

Here’s why this is important to you:Tuesday April 21st Google is changing their search algorithm to eliminate all non- “Mobile Friendly” websites from mobile search results.

This means that your chances of being found in a search could be cut by half or more. Even if the search is for your business name or exact url.

If you site passes as ready, then you’re are all set and have nothing to worry about. At least until the next change.

However, if you site is NOT MOBILE READY, then you are at risk of losing up to 50% of your web traffic. How serious this is for your business is something you’ll have to decide.

There is time to get this fixed. Google tells you what you need to do to become Mobile Friendly. If you’re not impacted right now, you may want to take the time to get your website updated or redone so you are more ready for the next Google change.

We don’t mean to scare you at all. But if you get the majority of your business from searches this may have a significant impact. You can check Google Analytics for your website if you have those set up for your site.

Here’s our suggestion:

1) run your site address through Google’s Tool http://8pecks.com/GoogleTest

2) if your site doesn’t pass decide how much impact this may have on your business

3) either make the necessary changes and updates yourself or reach out for some help.

We know the information from Google can be confusing. So if you’d like – run the test and email a copy of the results with your website URL to [email protected].

We’ll have a quick look and let you know what you think. Some site require only some straight forward changes while other my need to be redone. Please include your best phone number in that email too.